Famine arrived on Supernatural, and other than grossing viewers out and getting ripped apart by a bloodthirsty Sam, the Horseman provided one shocking insight.  According to him, Dean’s soul is blackened and decayed so badly that it’s as if he doesn’t even have one.  Can the hero of Supernatural really be soulless?

The simple answer is: yes.  After Sam was brought back to life thanks to Dean’s Crossroads deal, there was a lot of talk of him being brought back wrong.  The same thing could be said of Dean ever since he went to Hell and was tortured for years.

This hasn’t been a big issue because Dean’s soul got pushed aside thanks to Castiel’s arrival, the 66 Seals and Lucifer.  There hasn’t been a whole lot of free time since Dean came back for self reflection.

The truth is that all that time being tortured and then torturing others took its toll and his soul.  Dean is still able to fight the good fight because that’s who he is.  The notion of Dean being a hero is so ingrained in him that even without a fully functioning soul, he’s more of a hero than the average man.

The big question is: can Dean get it back?  Losing a soul is easy, but getting it back is hard (just ask Spike from the end of season 6 on Buffy).  My theory is that it all comes back to the final scene of “My Bloody Valentine” where Dean looks up and begs God for help.

Dean was never a particularly religious guy, and even with angels and Lucifer in his life, he still seems to lack any sense of faith.  Reviving his soul will take a monumental leap of faith, and at this point, getting a sign from God is the only way for Dean to achieve it.

Without his soul, there’s no way Dean will be able to win and stop the Apocalypse.  Now he has a mission, and finding God will be more important than ever, not just to stop Lucifer, but to save Dean’s soul.

(Image courtesy of the CW)

John Kubicek

Senior Writer, BuddyTV

John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire DiariesSupernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.